What's the cost of living with Parkinson's?

A household affected by Parkinson's loses an average of £16,582 a year due to higher health and social care costs and reduced income.

The research was commissioned by Parkinson's UK and the report was released today (20 July) by Sheffield Hallam University.

The key findings

Households where someone has Parkinson's experience:

higher health costs (£2,229) as they have to pay for items to help them live on a daily basis. These inclued things like pill timers, prescriptions (in England only), mobility aids and travel to health appointments, including parking charges

higher social care costs (£3,622) as they pay towards changes to their homes, assistance with daily tasks such as cleaning and shopping, and for equipment to help them stay independent

loss of income due to early retirement or reduced working hours (£10,731) because of the progression of the condition

a decline in quality of life - over 60% of people with Parkinson's and 55% of carers who were surveyed scored low on a recognised wellbeing scale

The cost of Parkinson's in each country

The report also shows that the exact cost of Parkinson's is different in each UK country as their governments, assemblies and parliaments set their own budgets.

Open each section below to find out more about the cost of Parkinson's in your country.

England

The findings of the research in England found that households where someone has Parkinson’s are £17,094 out of pocket each year.

This breaks down into:

higher health costs (£2,297)

higher social care costs (£3,704)

loss of income due to early retirement or reduced working hours (£11,093)

"Shocking"

Steve Ford, Chief Executive at Parkinson's UK, said:

"For the first time, this research has exposed the full financial impact of Parkinson's, and it's shocking that people affected by the condition are being hit by such devastating losses - especially at a time when families are already feeling the strain.

"People are being penalised by heavily reduced incomes and forced to pay for a lifetime of mobility aids, home alterations and care costs - all while battling a debilitating progressive condition, for which there is no cure."

Campaigning for improvements

The study has identified areas where government support isn't helping people living with the condition, so we'll use this research to focus our future campaigns.

We are now calling on governments across the UK to:

make changes to welfare support

increase investment in social care

propose new policies and practices for employers so that people affected by Parkinson's are supported to stay in work for as long as they want to